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Wednesday, February 25, 2015

How Industrial Pollution Contaminates Our Soil

Pollution is something that we hear about all the time. We
know it’s bad and that we need to do something about it. The first step in
figuring out how to reduce pollution is to learn about what is causing it and how
it is affecting our land and our bodies.

One of the ways that our food is contaminated is through the
soil where we grow our crops. There is more than one way that our soil can be contaminated,
but today we will focus on industrial pollution. Soil contamination from
factories is a very big problem in many parts of the world. China is hit especially
hard by this type of pollution contaminating their soil. But how does it
happen?

Factories contaminate soil through two main methods, both of
which trigger a chain reaction that eventually leads to our food being
contaminated. The first way is through waste runoff. This runoff leaches into our
ground water and is absorbed by the soil. Factories also pollute the air through
smokestacks. The emissions from these smokestacks fall on the ground thus
contamination the soil. Once the soil is contaminated the plants growing in
this soil take up the contaminants through their roots. Crops grown in
contaminated soil can also be covered in contaminated dirt. Once the crops are
contaminated humans ingest the contaminants through the plants themselves or
through eating livestock that grazed on the contaminated plants.

Now that we know what the problem is, what can we reduce industrial
soil contamination? A big step you can take is to buy products from
environmentally friendly companies. These companies work to reduce the amount
of waste they produce. Supporting companies who work to reduce soil contamination
sends a message to other companies that consumers want cleaner manufacturing
practices and a cleaner earth.